Technical Field
The present invention relates to a radiation image capture device and a radiation image capture system.
Related Art
Recently, radiation detectors such as Flat Panel Detectors (FPDs) are being implemented, in which a radiation sensitive layer is disposed on a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) active matrix substrate and with which radiation can be converted directly into digital data. Radiation image capture devices such as electronic cassettes that employ such radiation detectors to generate radiation images expressing irradiated radiation are also being implemented. Radiation conversion methods to convert radiation into electrical signals include indirect conversion methods, in which radiation is first converted into light with a scintillator and then the converted light is converted into charges by a photodiode, and direct conversion methods in which radiation is converted into charges with a semiconductor layer including amorphous selenium or the like. There are various materials that can be used in the semiconductor layer of the radiation detection panel for each method.
In radiation image capture devices, a known example is one in which plural radiation detection panels are arranged in a row along the image capture plane in a long rectangle, so as to enable image capture spanning a comparatively wide region such as in X-ray image capture of a chest area. For example, in Japanese Patent-Application Laid-Open No. 2000-292546 (Patent Document 1), an X-ray image capture device is described in which sensor units provided with an X-ray detection means (CsI) is provided in an image capture plane of the image detection means (a Charge Coupling Device (CCD)) are disposed as X-ray image sensors in plural overlapping units spread over an image capture region such that portions of captured images overlap with each other, with the exterior shapes of the X-ray detection means encompassing the overlapping regions without exceeding the effective image capture region of each image detection means.
Moreover, a known system includes a radiation image detection device with an FPD, and a console, connected together so as to be capable of communication with each other. For example, JP-A No. 2010-22752 (Patent Document 2) and JP-A No. 2010-17296 (Patent Document 3) describe medical image systems that include an FPD cassette and a console.
The FPD cassette of Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 2 includes: a radiation detection means arrayed in two dimensions with plural elements converting radiation that has passed through an imaging subject into electrical signals; a reading means that reads the electrical signals acquired using the radiation detection means and generates image data of the imaging subject; a divided image data generation means that divides the image data generated by the reading means into divided image data; a transmission management means that sets a transmission sequence for the divided data; and a detection device communication means that externally transmits the divided image data to the according to the transmission sequence. The consoles described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 include a display means including a two dimensional shaped display region, and a console communication means that acquires divided image data from the FPD cassette, and a display control means that controls the display means.
According to Patent Document 2, the detection device communication means transmits division settings and a transmission sequence as auxiliary data, together with the divided image data, and the display control means, together with dividing the display region of the display means into plural divided display regions based on the division settings in the auxiliary data, the display control means also allocates the divided image data acquired by the console communication means to the respective divided display regions based on the transmission sequence in the auxiliary data, and displays on the display means.
According to Patent Document 3, the display control means, together with dividing the display region of the display means into plural divided display regions based on image capture position data, the display control means also allocates divided image data acquired by the console communication means to respective divided display regions according to a specified allocation sequence, and displays on the respective divided display regions.
As described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to achieve image capture spanning a comparatively large region by configuring a long rectangular shaped radiation image capture device in which plural radiation detection panels are joined together. However, sometimes it is desirable to carry out radiation image capture using only some of the radiation detection panels configuring the long rectangular shaped radiation image capture device. In such cases, if all of the images generated by each of the plural radiation detection panels are transmitted to an external device including a display section such as the console, the time until the images are displayed on the external device becomes long, and workflow is decreased.
In such cases, transmission of only the images generated by the radiation detection panel employed for image capture (also referred to as the employed panel below) to an external device, such as a console, may be considered. The number of images transmitted from the radiation image detection device to the external device such as the console can thereby be reduced, enabling the time waiting until image display to be shortened. However, it is conceivable that in some cases the imaging subject might also be captured by a radiation detection panel other than the employed panel, or that the employed panel might not be appropriately designated. In such cases, in cases in which image capture is not performed in the radiation detection panel other than the employed panel, image recapture is sometimes necessary in cases in which the image generated by the radiation detection panel other than the employed panel is not saved.